(Newser)
–
A newborn baby tossed down a New York City housing project's trash chute survived the eight-story fall because he landed on a pile of garbage and the compactor was jammed. A maintenance worker heard the baby's cries coming from the trash compactor yesterday morning in the Walt Whitman Houses in Brooklyn. The baby was taken to Brooklyn Hospital, where he remains in stable condition.

His 18-year-old mother has been arrested on charges of attempted murder and endangering the welfare of a child. Police say they believe she gave birth shortly before tossing the baby; she is also being treated at Brooklyn Hospital.